


Taking It Slow

by FagurFiskur



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dean Has Self-Esteem Issues, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-04
Updated: 2016-10-04
Packaged: 2018-08-19 14:35:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8212195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FagurFiskur/pseuds/FagurFiskur
Summary: After years of thinking about it and trying not to think about it, of endless ‘what-if’s and ‘almost’s and ‘if-only’s, Dean finally bites the bullet and asks Cas out on a date.





	

After years of thinking about it and trying not to think about it, of endless ‘what-if’s and ‘almost’s and ‘if-only’s, Dean finally bites the bullet and asks Cas out on a date.

He’s about ninety-percent sure that Cas is gonna say yes - never would have worked up the courage to ask if he wasn’t - but it still feels like a wonderful surprise when he does.

They go out to dinner. Nothing too fancy and nothing too unfamiliar either. Dean would rather make the transition from just friends to something else as smooth as possible. 

They have a good time. Dean is a little nervous at first but Cas is his usual unflappable self and that comforts Dean. By the time they’re half-way through their burgers, their conversation is as easy as it always is.

Dean drives Cas home but before he can offer to walk him up to the doorstep (not that he needs to but it feels right, somehow), Cas is getting out of the car and saying goodnight.

So no kiss on the first date. But that’s fine. It’s probably better that they take it slow.

They go on several dates after that, out to dinner again, to the movies, out for drinks, and even to one gallery opening. Dean isn’t exactly a fan of modern art but he likes the way Cas’ eyes light up when he talks about it, the pink flush that appears high on his cheeks and is probably mirrored on Dean’s own face.

But they never kiss. They never even hold hands; the one time Dean tries to grab for Cas’ hand in the middle of a movie, Cas moves it away and apologizes for hogging the armrest.

It’s a little confusing but Dean thinks that maybe Cas is scared of moving too fast. He kind of is too. What they’re doing right now is very close to how their friendship has always been and maybe they’re better off not changing too much too fast.

 

After exactly two months of dating, Dean and Cas find themselves at a bar with a large group of friends. Dean planned something a bit more private but when he was talking about the date with Cas, Charlie overheard and asked if she could join and it snowballed from there. They still haven’t told any of their other friends that they’re dating and Dean didn’t want to at that point, afraid that maybe Cas didn’t want him to. 

In any case, it’s fun. Sam somehow gets roped into a drinking contest with Jo and Benny, and he gets about halfway through his row of shots before calling it quits (Dean would tease him about it but he’d rather not carry his giant little brother out to his car when he’d inevitably pass out). They get into a competitive game of darts, which Charlie and Ash end up dominating at, and a game of pool which Dean wins easily. 

Around midnight, Dean and Benny get into a heated discussion about whiskey versus rum. Dean isn’t even that drunk - he’s only had two drinks - but he’ll defend Johnny Walker to his grave. At a lull in the conversation, he looks across the table, where Cas is sitting between Balthazar and Meg, who are both leaning close to him with twin smirks, looking like the two devils on his shoulders.

“-buy a drink for one of them,” Balthazar is saying, nodding towards the bar. Dean follows his gaze and sees a group of women trying to get the bartender’s attention, all of them clearly dressed for a night out on the town. “We’ll even let you pick which one.”

Dean swallows as he realizes what’s happening - Meg and Balthazar are trying to convince Cas to ask one of those women out. He berates himself for feeling worried in the next moment, when Cas looks up and briefly catches his eye. Cas may not tell them the truth, that he’s already seeing someone, but he’s at least gonna come up with some excuse as to why he can’t. 

He waits for the excuse to come but his breath catches in his throat when instead, Cas slowly nods.

“Why not?” he says, and Dean wants to scream w _hat the hell do you mean,_ why not _?_ Meg and Balthazar laugh and pat his back, Meg offering to lend him a condom if everything goes really well and Dean _can’t believe this is happening._

Cas moves to get up and Dean isn’t even aware that he’s mirroring the action until he’s already out of his seat, his chair clattering to the ground. He can feel every eye at the table turning to him but he ignores them, grabbing his jacket and storming off. He hears several people call his name and he ignores that, too, but it’s more difficult to ignore the hand that grabs his arm, stopping him short in the doorway of the bar.

“Dean-”

Dean rips his arm free before Cas can say anything else - undoubtedly some heartfelt apology that Dean has no interest in listening to. He feels not just hurt and pissed but embarrassed too. 

Clearly the reason they haven’t kissed so far isn’t because Cas wants to _take things slow_  but because Cas isn’t interested in kissing him at all. He probably wanted to let Dean down easy, to not make things awkward between them, but Dean had been too stupid to pick up on the obvious hints. 

“Dean!” Cas’ hand is back on his arm, his grip tighter this time, and Dean reluctantly turns to face him. “What’s wrong?”

Dean scoffs. “You’re kidding, right? If you weren’t interested in dating me you could have just said so.”

Cas’ eyes widen, his grip going slack. “What?”

“Dating,” Dean repeats angrily. “You know, the thing we’ve been doing for the past two months?”

Cas’ mouth opens and closes wordlessly. “We haven’t been dating,” he finally says.

“…What.” 

“Why- why would you think we’ve been dating?”

Dean blinks. Is this conversation actually happening. “What the hell do you mean, why would I think that? Because I asked you out on dates! Plural!”

“You’ve never asked me out on a date.”

“Of course I…” Dean stops short. Thinking back, he suddenly realizes that he can’t remember a single instance where he used the word ‘date’. “Shit.”

He can’t even look in Cas’ direction. How could he have been such an idiot? How could _anyone_ be? Who the hell imagines up a whole romantic relationship between them and their best friend? 

“So every time we’ve met alone in the past two months,” Cas says, voice soft and laden with something Dean can’t decipher, “those were dates?”

Dean swallows. His face feels like it’s on fire. “Um. Sorry. I guess I should’ve been clearer.”

“Yes, you should have.”

This is it, Dean has completely blown it. He’s probably scared Cas away from being even his friend anymore.

“Sorry,” he says again. “I should’ve gotten it when you never wanted to hold hands or kiss or anything like that but I guess I had myself convinced you just wanted to take it slow.”

The grasp on his arm going tighter is all the warning Dean gets before a warm pair of lips is closing over his. He lets out a (totally manly, not at all squeaky) surprised sound, heat surging down to his gut when Cas’ arm dips around his waist, grasping him close. 

After a moment of shock - _Cas is kissing him -_ Dean finally remembers to kiss back, and he’s rewarded with a soft gasp against his lips. The kiss is heated and messy and far from how Dean expected their first to go but he’s more than fine with that, especially if Cas keeps doing that thing with his tongue.

They break apart and Dean knows he’s red-faced and wide-eyed and he probably looks way too wrecked after just one kiss but Cas looks at him kind of like he wants to eat him so that’s okay.

“I’m sorry I didn’t know we were dating,” he says, voice even lower and raspier than usual and _Christ_ this man is gonna be the death of Dean. “But I can promise you that if I had known, I never would have waited so long to kiss you.”

Dean licks his lips. His head is swimming and he still can’t quite wrap it around all the twists and turns their conversation has taken in the past couple of minutes, but he does know one thing very clearly: he really needs Cas to kiss him again.

“Looks like you’ve got a lot of time to make up for, then.”

Cas hums, an unfamiliar and devious grin spreading over his face and Dean’s not too proud to say he lets loose a small whimper at the sight of it. “Looks like.”

They meet in the middle this time.


End file.
